Anyone handy with automative electrical stuff?

[Lebowski]

I've got a little Ford Focus that has been crapping out on me lately. Now, when I bought it I knew it had some issues.

• Trunk was broken into, trunk latch broke and doesn't latch.
• As a result of the above, driving it constantly 'dings' to let you know a door is 'open'. I tune that out.
• Dash panel likes to flash lights to tell me everything that could be going wrong is going wrong.
• Lately my headlights have decided if and when they want to work. They may be bright as day driving down the road all happy and then they want to take a rest and dim to about the brightness of an illuminated cellphone screen... then maybe go back to being regular brightness.

The headlight issue is the last straw. I very rarely drive as I like the slow pace of walking through this nice little town on foot, but sometimes I just want to errands when I get off work at 1AM which means driving to Wal-Mart. The thing is, dimming the dashboard lights inside the car also dim the headlights and when the headlights go out, so does the dash lights. There is a knob to enable the lights, and a dial(?) to adjust dash brightness. I can keep it in one place for 2 days and it be fine, then all of a sudden they come on/off at random and may be off or very very dim for 20 minutes and come back to normal brightness without me touching a thing.

With all this said, what am I looking at, cost wise, to get all this fixed? It's not a very nice car, I bought it with cash for $900 so trust me when I say I am not expecting it to operate without some issues... but headlights I sort of need. Any rough idea of what this could potentially be so I have an ideal cost range before I just drop it off somewhere?

Do I need an automotive electrician or a priest to perform an exorcism on my car?

Thanks.

 

[Dead Duck]

You had me a Ford Focus....

 

[Lebowski]

You had me a Ford Focus....

Meh. It runs alright despite the electrical stuff. I've had it for about six months or something now and have only put about 4-500 miles on it. I don't really drive that much. Minus the electrical issues it suits me well enough. Though I may still trade it + cash for either a beat up old truck with camper or a van... I want something I can take on camping trips but also something I can throw guns and stuff in the back and take to the range.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I'm no Ford Focus expert but it sounds like you have a loose connection somewhere. Pop the hood and do a visual inspection. Look for cobbled up wiring; check to loose connections at the battery and on the alternator. Look at whatever ground connections you can find and make sure they're tight. On that hatch open warning...you should have a switch that will make when the hatch is down or the latch is engaged. You may be able to tie the latch down/back/closed and make the circuit think the hatch is closed, even when it isn't.

It's possible the fixes are nickle/dime fixes but they may be really, really hard to find.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Were the other electrical symptoms present prior to it being broken into?

 

[long coat]

You should have a battery cable that goes from the negative to the core support, make sure it's tight and not rusted.

 

[PaulF]

I'm a career auto mechanic, though I have specialized in European cars.

The symptoms you describe are odd. At first I was thinking you have a bad instrument cluster, but the issue with the lights has me thinking something might be wrong with the charging system.

Would you like me to take a look?

 

[Lebowski]

Were the other electrical symptoms present prior to it being broken into?

I bought it as such. I wasn't a very thorough inspector of the car and the seller wasn't very honest in what constituted an 'issue' and what was normal. All I was told was that the AC didn't work and that a motor mount needed replaced.

 

[drop45]

I changed an alternator once, and the car burned to the ground, How can I help you.

 

[IndyGunworks]

has this car ever caught on fire?

 

[RobbyMaQ]

has this car ever caught on fire?

Or been underwater?

 

[skulhedface]

Sounds like ground issues. Might be as simple as a common ground post under or behind the dash that's corroded. No clue what it would cost to cure since I am the mechanic at my house (sometimes I wish I had a better mechanic though)

 

[churchmouse]

I agree with Paul. This is odd. There is an issue that will need to be looked at and soon. If you smell smoke while driving it pull to the side and bail out.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Sounds like ground issues. Might be as simple as a common ground post under or behind the dash that's corroded. No clue what it would cost to cure since I am the mechanic at my house (sometimes I wish I had a better mechanic though)

Me too. But my wife is worse than me!

 

[Cameramonkey]

have you tried uncoiled rice?

 

[Lebowski]

I'm a career auto mechanic, though I have specialized in European cars.

The symptoms you describe are odd. At first I was thinking you have a bad instrument cluster, but the issue with the lights has me thinking something might be wrong with the charging system.

Would you like me to take a look?

Well, I'm down south by the river. Where are you? I may ask my regular guy to see if he can poke around as I need to stop by there to have him do something else anyhow.

has this car ever caught on fire?

Not that I am aware of.

Or been underwater?

Probably more likely but also not that I am aware of.

I agree with Paul. This is odd. There is an issue that will need to be looked at and soon. If you smell smoke while driving it pull to the side and bail out.

No smoke yet. But if I drive with the windows down I get the smell of exhaust in the car. <Shrugs>

 

[RobbyMaQ]

My mx5 acted up once, overnight it just had trouble idling.
I poked around, and eventually found a mouse nest in one of the side tunnels in the engine bay. Sure enough, the little **** chewed through a couple wires right at the firewall. I had no slack to pull the harness out and repair. I hoped for the best, spread the wires out, and covered them in nail polish. After it dried, wrapped it in electrical tape, and everything was back to normal. To this day, I have multitudes of panty hose scraps filled with moth balls tied to hoses and wires, scattered throughout my engine bays on all of my cars.

My mechanics must think I am nuts.

 

[Jbiggs556]

So many things going haywire I wonder if there is a bad ground. All of these systems that are having issues will be in different circuits but share a common ground. Also could have 12volts unfused from the battery going to ground where it should not be and back feeding through the circuits. Get a good voltmeter and start going though one problem at a time but it seems like it has to be something common to everything.

 

[Jbiggs556]

Not a car guy just work in electronics at the mill

 

[churchmouse]

My mx5 acted up once, overnight it just had trouble idling.
I poked around, and eventually found a mouse nest in one of the side tunnels in the engine bay. Sure enough, the little **** chewed through a couple wires right at the firewall. I had no slack to pull the harness out and repair. I hoped for the best, spread the wires out, and covered them in nail polish. After it dried, wrapped it in electrical tape, and everything was back to normal. To this day, I have multitudes of panty hose scraps filled with moth balls tied to hoses and wires, scattered throughout my engine bays on all of my cars.

My mechanics must think I am nuts.

Oh you are nuts.......